Residents at centre of Para Hills West standoff blast ‘excessive’ police response

The residents at the centre of a six-hour police standoff over a rental dispute with SA Housing have lashed out at the “excessive” reaction.

The occupants of a northern-suburbs house involved in a six-hour siege with SA Police have described the incident as “excessive”.

Police were called to the home in Para Hills West at about 9.30am on Tuesday in response to a dispute which developed into a “high-risk” incident. It closed down the street for over six hours before it was peacefully resolved without arrests.

A police spokesperson said a bailiff had called police seeking assistance to resolve a dispute with a house occupant but did not disclosed details surrounding the incident.

The police operation at Para Hills West sent several streets into lockdown. Picture: 7NEWS

A resident, 35, who lives at the property with a partner, 43, and their two young boys, claims the siege occurred because of a longstanding rental dispute with the SA Housing Authority.

The resident said they were not expecting a large police presence at her property and had not made any threats towards anyone on Tuesday.

“They had machine guns. They had battens, they had shields, like we’re horrible people,” the resident said.

“It was excessive, so excessive. We have two kids that we’re trying to look after just a family home.”

STAR Group officers were called in. Picture: 7NEWS

The resident said the pair had attempted to contact police headquarters during the siege but were advised by the officers on the phone they needed to “go out there first” and discuss the matter with the police officers at the site.

“We tried to explain (that) we wanted to talk to the highest-ranking officer, the inspector, and find out what’s going on (but) they were refusing that,” the resident said.

The resident claimed the family “wants peace and harmony” and had not made any threats towards anyone to spark a siege.

Heavily armed specialist police called in for the operation. Picture: 7NEWS

“They wanted to evict us, that’s why they were here … to forcefully evict me and my children on the street,” the resident said.

“It’s unbelievable and this all has to do with housing (SA Housing) not being accountable to their own mistakes.”

They eventually negotiated with police officers to bring the siege to an end.

The pair, who remain living at the property, are allegedly working with police to avoid further incidents from occurring.

An SA Housing Authority spokesperson said they had “moved to evict a tenant at one of its properties, after a successful eviction application to the SA Civil and Administration Tribunal”.

“Given the long-running abusive and threatening behaviour towards staff, the authority, as a precaution, elected to call in SAPOL to assist with the eviction to ensure the safety of all involved,” the spokesperson said.

“Housing SA has done everything in its power to try to engage with the tenant to achieve an outcome where the tenant could remain in the property and abide by the conditions of their tenancy but unfortunately this has not been successful.”